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School News

Thank you for considering Rowan County Early College (RCEC) as your high school. Before completing an application, we ask that you give careful consideration to the information below to determine if RCEC is the most suitable educational experience for you. In completing the application, please make special note of the expectations you and your child will be agreeing to if he or she is accepted at RCEC.

Rowan County Early College (RCEC), on the campus of Rowan-Cabarrus Community College, North Campus, was established in 2007 as a collaborative effort between the Rowan-Salisbury School System and Rowan-Cabarrus Community College. The program was part of Governor Easley’s Learn and Earn initiative and is structured to provide successful, challenging and meaningful experiences for students identified as high ability who are not yet reaching their potential, are first generation college, have financial need, are traditionally underserved in higher education, or would benefit from an accelerated academic program.

Students in grades 9-12 will be offered not only the opportunity to earn a high school diploma and meet university entrance requirements, but they will also take college courses for which they may receive up to two (2) years of college credit.

What it takes to be successful

The student population of RCEC reflects and values the diversity of its participating schools. Some of the criteria considered in determining student eligibility are:

SALISBURY — Thursday’s test score release had a few additional surprises for one local school. Rowan County Early College, located on the north campus of Rowan-Cabarrus Community College, was the first school in district history to earn an A school performance grade.

But the school’s actual rating, according to the N.C. Department of Public Instruction, reads as “A+NG.” The acronym stands for “A with no gap,” meaning that the high school both earned an A grade and did not have any student achievement gaps larger than the largest average gap for the state.

Or, as Hosey summarized it, the usual data subgroups of age, ethnicity and gender had no noticeable performance differences between them.

“So those subgroups that you have are all performing on the same level. Which is kind of rare,” He said.

In fact, fewer than 25 public high schools in the state managed to achieve the same distinction. Approximately 88 schools statewide, total, were ranked A+NG.

“It really is exciting, it is,” Hosey said.

According to the school system’s seven-day count, Rowan County Early College has 239 students this year.

School performance grades are a state ranking system which rely on test scores and, to a lesser extent, improvement or growth of students. According to the N.C. Department of Public Instruction, the final grade is 80 percent test scores and 20 percent growth or improvement. The lettering performance standard has been in use for approximately five years. The A+NG designation was added in 2014-15 to address federal requirements that exclude schools with significant achievement gaps from earning a state’s highest achievement designation.

As last year was winding down a long-term project was coming to a successful conclusion. Rowan-County Early College students had often asked about having a Spirit Rock like other high schools, middle schools and even some elementary schools in Rowan county have on their campus.

Thanks to the work done by the 2016-2017 RCEC Student Government Association and last year's president Nate Brink the idea became a reality. Reaching out first through the RCCC SGA and RCCC College Environment Staff a plan was put in place.

Vulcan Materials offered to donate the spirit rock and provided a tour of their quarry in Gold Hill to select an appropriate rock. Jordan Littauer the Site Manager provided the tour and helped set up the delivery of the rock to our school. The rock was delivered and placed by Crane and Rigging Corporation. All of this was done at no cost to RCEC.

You can help earn money for RCEC by using your VIC Card from Harris Teeter as part of their Together in Education program. Simply link your card to our School Code 1628 and help us by doing something you are already doing. There is no limit to how much our school can earn.

You can link your card in store or manually at the link below using 1628 as our TIE Link Code: